![]() The War on Drugs was a government-led initiative launched in 1970 by President Richard M. This approach requires an open mind and supportive perspective, recognizing that substance use disorder is truly a medical condition that requires just as much attention as any other medical diagnosis. Incentivizing pregnant women with substance use disorder to safely address their chronic health issues is essential for minimizing negative short-term and long-term outcomes for women and their newborns. Īs a medical student, I have observed the importance of a rehabilitative approach to addiction medicine. These punitive measures may cause patients to lose trust in their physicians, ultimately leading to high-risk pregnancies without prenatal care, untreated substance misuse, and potential lifelong disabilities for their newborns. For example, many women with substance use disorder lose custody of their baby or face criminal penalties, including fines and jail time. There is still a pervasive societal bias toward punitive rather than rehabilitative approaches to addiction. Unfortunately, the lasting consequences of the War on Drugs have created a stigma around addiction medicine, leading to significant treatment barriers. The medical community has long recognized that substance use disorder is not simply a character flaw or social deviance, but a complex condition that requires adequate medical attention. Proponents of this argument emphasize social and environmental factors that lead to addiction but fail to appreciate how chronic substance use alters the brain’s chemistry and changes how it responds to stress, reward, self-control, and pain. Some suggest that addiction is a choice therefore, those who misuse substances should not receive treatment. Pregnant women with substance use disorder require treatment that is arguably for the benefit of both the mother and the fetus. This article highlights some misconceptions and underscores the challenges they face as they navigate the justice and healthcare systems while also providing possible solutions to address their underlying addiction. Instead, these laws have created a negative bias surrounding addiction and have negatively affected particularly vulnerable patient populations, including pregnant women with substance use disorder and newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome. These laws have not controlled illicit drug use, nor has it stopped the opioid pandemic from growing. The US government's approach to the War on Drugs has created laws to deter people from using illicit drugs through negative punishment.
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